Kristian Matsson is the Swedish folk musician behind The Tallest Man on Earth (TMOE). He has a Dylan-esque style, yet a very unique voice. We saw him perform in May of 2010 at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum and he was more incredible live than I anticipated. He’s really a hidden gem, although he has millions of dedicated fans, like myself. His song 1904 is my alarm clock song Monday through Friday. Woot!

Ironically, he isn’t actually the tallest man on earth; he is really slight of build, yet mammoth on sound.

What I found most interesting was his creative process and how he pushes through writer’s block. Here are some highlights from the interview:

I want that element of chaos in there. You know and things blending together. It’s hard to plan how to do that.

I just tried to write stupid 30 second songs recording whatever came to my mind. I had to do it. It had to be two a day. It had to be a verse and a chorus.

I listened to it maybe three weeks later and like ‘Wait, this is it.’ I just did it so fast, and I kinda forgot about it. Then I picked it up and wrote the whole song like that. Three of those ideas ended up being like the best songs on this album. I have that all the time. It goes..I understand it now. You just have to keep working it. You have to put yourself into situations where inspiration can hit you. You know. So, I was not worried, I was just being a bit sick and tired of myself just not doing stuff. I just had to spend some time with what those songs were about. Some of those songs needed comments and they needed answers and stuff like that. So I could finally do that with this album so I could just finish off some stuff. You know of course there is an element of relief because I mean to be honest sometimes you doubt yourself sometimes and stuff like that and you don’t know if it’s going to be a record. So of course you’re relieved like ‘Whoa it really worked! I did an album!’ – Kristian Matsson via FaceCulture.tv.

It’s not always easy being a woman, but I’m thankful to have more opportunities than previous generations. I hope that my daughters experience even more opportunities, life experiences and advancement and that my son can thrive equally and not feel threatened by strong women, nor become less masculine along the way.

Happy birthday Dr. Suess! We whole-heartedly believe in literacy in our family! Case in point - the ‘Really Radical Reading Log’ my son filled out for school this week. Book # 3 was cleary his favorite radical read this week; a self proclaimed 30 minute read! Pretty advanced subject matter for a first grader. I think my Lit Chicks Anonymous book club might enjoy it as well.